Food & Drink : Food :

What's the honest-to-goodness best way to wash your produce?

03.04.2009

Submitted by tmeronek on Wed, 03/04/2009 - 12:00am.
The Bite:
Use water and white vinegar - no lie. A few squirts on your fruits and veggies gets rid of the nasty stuff (like pesticide residue) that you don't want - no store-bought washes necessary. Sincerely yours, Ideal Bite.
The Benefits: 
  • Brushing bugs under the rug. A diluted vinegar rinse kills 98% of bacteria on produce - researchers found it works even better than a scrub brush.
  • Cash savings you can believe in. Water and vinegar rinses cost just pennies; the premade washes we found cost $4 and up.
  • It's a simple truth: Buying plastic bottles of produce wash means having to recycle them too (not to mention the energy and materials needed to make and ship them in the first place) - you'll still need to buy bottles of vinegar, but you'll buy fewer of them.
Personally Speaking: 
Some of us who happen to have white vinegar in our pantries actually have no idea how it got there. Now we've got a use for it…
Wanna Try: 
  • Mix water to white vinegar 3:1 in a spray bottle (if you've already got a bottle of the premade stuff, use it up and reuse the sprayer). Rinse with water after you spray. Yes, it's that easy.
 

Cocktail Fact

Rosalyn, SD, is home to the International Vinegar Museum.

Bang For The Bite

Homemade vinegar rinses: easy to make, cost almost nothin', and they avert unnecessary products - totally deserving of a solid four apples.

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valentina  on March 04, 2009 at 01:17 PM 21
I actually use a product I buy online that has tea tree oil in it. This product is super. It is highly concentrated and kills just about every harmful germ under the sun (it is very intelligent and leaves the good germs, I guess that would be the good bacteria intact).
grumpy58  on March 04, 2009 at 02:59 PM 22
I have used White Vinegar to clean the washer. I use a cup to a cup and a half, let the washer run thru the whole cycle. Leaves the washer clean and fresh. Use once a month. Thank you all Ideal Biters for the many tips on White Vinegar. Never tried on the wash itself, but I will now. Again, thank you.
Anonymous  on March 04, 2009 at 04:49 PM 23
1/2 cup WV 2 tsp. dish soap 1/8 tsp lavendar oil Water in a regular spray bottle. This mix is good on counter tops windows and ceramic tile.
wendy lundberg  on March 04, 2009 at 05:24 PM 24
guess what? white vinegar also kills those pesky ants we all sometimes get in the summer.Just mix it 50/50 with water.spay on affected surface let sit overnight and wipe clean.No joke this works great.
Anonymous  on March 05, 2009 at 05:08 PM 25
If you rinse the produce in water after the vinegar, you shouldn't taste the vinegar.
Alisa  on March 05, 2009 at 07:47 PM 26
I spray white vinegar diluted one to one with water on my houseplants. It keeps my cats from chewing them, which they like to do then vomit on my floor. I then use the vinegar solution to clean the floor after I wipe up the vomit chunks. I also put a 1/4 white vinegar in my washer in the cup where the fabric softener is meant to go. It works great in combating static cling and making our clothes smell fresh and clean without any perfume smells. It is hypoallergenic too. In the dryer, we use those rubber fabric balls (I found them at babies r us and I think they absorb static and shorten the drying time as well - I highly recommend them). Search vinegar and you'll find a million uses for this eco friendly substance. I learned some ones I didn't know on this board tonight! Thanks everyone!
Anonymous  on March 05, 2009 at 08:42 PM 27
If you rinse the produce in water after the vinegar, you shouldn't taste the vinegar.
Georgie  on March 07, 2009 at 04:30 AM 28
Vinegar is also useful for those of us who get unsightly salt stains on leather shoes or boots. This hint was given to me by a friend in the military. (if it works for military boots....) I used full strength on a cloth and it works very well.
Nicole  on April 17, 2009 at 08:50 AM 29
My father swears by vinegar to remove smells from the house, especially cooking smells like fish or anything fried in oil. He pours white vinegar into a saucer and leaves it out on the counter for a day or two. It really does work! And he probably has no idea what "being green" even means, he learned the vinegar trick from my grandmother decades ago.
Ginny Chudgar  on April 17, 2009 at 04:13 PM 30
I keep a spray bottle of vinegar for kitchen cleaning, and one for bathroom cleaning. Spraying with vinegar, rinsing with water and a few drops of essential oil (lavender, tea tree, peppermint, sweet orange, whatever), and then wiping dry with a flour sack cloth (the no-lint cotton ones that get softer as you wash them), leaves the surfaces looking and smelling great. Everything from toilet seats to faucet handles -- clean and disinfected and I'm guilt-and -chem-free!
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